John Kerr scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the first half to lead St. Ambrose to a 73-54 win over Saint Xavier Wednesday night at Lee Lohman Arena.

The win moved the Bees to 12-9 overall and 7-6 in the CCAC.

Kerr was 6-of-7 from the floor, hit his only 3-point attempt and was a perfect 3-of-3 from the line in his 14 first-half minutes. The Bees received contributions from Jalen Jones (nine points), Michael Williams (seven) and Tom Kazanecki (four) in building a 38-34 halftime advantage.

SAU set the tone early, outrebounding SXU 24-12 over the game's first 20 minutes. Kazanecki had five first-half rebounds while Jones matched Kerr with four.

That helped the team overcome a 9-2 deficit less than three minutes into the game.

With the Bees trailing 18-13, Kazanecki scored inside and Jones followed with five points of his own. Jake Meeske capped an 8-0 run with a free throw to put St. Ambrose in front 21-18 midway through the first half.

Minutes later, with the score tied at 26-26, a 7-0 run, highlighed by five points from Williams, gave SAU a 33-26 cushion. It was a lead the Bees would never surrender.

After Saint Xavier (8-15, 5-8 CCAC) closed to with 38-36 early in the second half, St. Ambrose went on a 9-0 run, with Alex Portwood's 3-pointer being the big shot. The Bees finally pulled away late, using another 7-0 spurt to build a 65-50 lead with 3:31 to play.

Kerr finished with his 18 points and eight rebounds. Kazanecki added 12 points and eight boards. Jones finished with nine, while Williams, Meeske and Ben Schols each scored seven.

Along with limiting the Cougars to 31.7 percent shooting from the field, the Bees also grabbed a 46-25 edge on the boards.

SAU will next host No. 21 Olivet Nazarene Saturday at 3 p.m.